Transition watch continues and now we have an actual transition team to watch. According to his latest press release, Michael Nutter has welcomed the following people to his transition efforts:
Honorary Chairman, Reverend Albert F. Campbell of Mount Carmel Baptist Church is joined by Committee co-chairs:
· The Honorable Ida Chen, Court of Common Pleas for the Philadelphia Judicial District;
· Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, recently named to direct Citizens Bank’s operations for Pennsylvania;
- Dr. Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania;
· Bishop Richard Norris Ph. D., First District AME Church, Philadelphia;
· Lynette Brown-Sow, Vice President, Communications and Government Relations, Community College of Philadelphia;
· Nilda Ruiz, President and CEO, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha
Tricia Enright, Nutter’s former general election campaign manager will serve as the Executive Director of the Committee and Richard Hayden, a lawyer with the firm Saul Ewing, was named Counsel to the Committee.
(Full bios are in the press release.)
So there's a little something for everyone here - people of all races and backgrounds. Most of these folks are not what you'd call "the usual suspects" of political insiders. Though, that isn't to say they're not connected to the community in many different ways. They each wield a fair amount of influence in their own spheres and are either responsible for large organizations or have worked with diverse groups of people.
Nutter also lays out his plan for the role he intends these folks to play:
The transition team will include an Operations Team that will review the City’s operating departments and also evaluate successful ‘Best Practices’ programs from other city governments. Nutter also wants the team to determine if there is an effective customer service model in place for each city department.
That seems easy enough. This Operations Team should just try to call the City themselves and try to get some mundane tasks accomplished. They could note the treatment they got during the process and how long the process took (if it even was completed). They would probably get a much more accurate assessment if they, say, tried to get a permit for something or report a code violation, than they would if they just talked to the folks in charge of those processes.
Any thoughts on this announcement? Do you have anything that you'd want to tell this transition team? Let 'em fly in the comments.
Comments (1)
Call the useless Streets Department at 215-686-5560 and see how long it takes for someone to pick up the phone, if they ever do.
If you talk to someone or leave a message, see how long it takes to get something done, like getting the traffic lanes markings restriped in Center City - hasn't been done for years!
Posted by Anonymous | November 28, 2007 1:13 PM